Half Fang
by HopeCoppice
Summary: The truce has been broken, and of course the trouble would have to be in Stokely. Eventual slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Good gods what is this it's a fic with Stokely in it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing; furthermore I don't even know some of these characters that well, so this should be fun.  
**

"Vlad, the Truce has been broken. I think we can salvage the situation, but we need you on the scene right away." Jonno's voice crackled through the phone and the Chosen One sighed.  
"Which side broke, and where do I need to be?"  
"A vampire, but the slayers retaliated. We've got the slayers concerned in custody, but we need you here to reaffirm the treaty. The half-fang's also in the cells, just to be on the safe side. I'm not clear on the details, it was all sorted out by the time I got here."  
"And where is 'here', Jonno? I only have 'til sunrise." He didn't bother to hide his irritation this time, and Jonno gulped.  
"Oh, sorry. Stokely."  
"Meet me at the castle." Vlad had barely bitten out the last syllable before he hung up and launched himself into the dark sky.

Jonno met him outside the castle, as arranged, although Vlad thought that it might be a little charitable to describe the charred pile of stones as a castle. His face was grim, but Vlad didn't have time to waste on asking him what was wrong. He simply set off down the hill, letting Jonno catch up and start leading the way.  
"Thanks for coming so fast. Look, I've just been talking to the response team, and there's something you should know."  
"So spit it out, Jonno, I'd like to be back by dawn."  
"The victim... the half-fang. It's-"  
"I don't need names right now, Jonno. I'll make sure they're taken care of, placed with a clan if I can manage it. But I don't want to hear about it until the truce is back in effect."  
"But... fine, you'll see when we get there."

Slayer HQ in Stokely was really just a house with a particularly fortified and expanded cellar. Vlad was invited in, amidst much muttering from the slayers, but he saw a couple of faces he recognised and most of them seemed a little more tolerant. He supposed they must remember the type of kid he'd been – hardly the terrifying leader of the vampires the rest of them seemed to be expecting. Fortunately, signing the truce didn't take very long – both sides accepted blame, and Vlad was hardly going to object to the slayers' actions given that they were clearly motivated by self-defence.  
"Against an _immediate_ threat," he hastened to add, "you can't use the 'all vampires are dangerous' excuse. But I'm glad your team were on hand; this could have been much worse." He put pen to paper, witnessed by all the slayers and Ingrid, who'd flown in specially and then headed straight back to the school muttering about having better things to do. The truce was secure. "Now take me to the half-fang."

He strode down to the cells, wondering how long it would take to locate someone who would take the new vampire in and show him the ropes. He suspected that it would require him to spend the day here.  
"Can I have somewhere to sleep for the day? This probably won't be sorted by dawn."  
As the slayer escorting him nodded, gesturing for another to make the necessary arrangements, a voice called out from the cell, sounding hoarse but instantly familiar. Suddenly Jonno's attempts to tell him the victim's identity made sense, as did his refusal to escort him himself.  
"Vlad?" He ran the length of the short corridor, refusing to believe his ears until his eyes confirmed their report.  
"Robin?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Part two of four. Thanks for the reviews on chapter one - I hope you enjoy this bit too!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Which is just as well given how I'm about to completely mess up writing Robin.**

He waited to be let into the room before sending the slayers away. He didn't need an audience for this reunion. Robin looked even paler than he'd ever been, and he had a hand clamped against the side of his neck, wincing occasionally.  
"Vlad! This is brilliant! I remember everything now, and now I'm one of you! How cool is that?"  
The Chosen One frowned. "Is it still hurting?"  
"Nah, just feels a bit weird. I thought, when I woke up and saw slayers, I thought I was done for but they said they've got a truce. The big vampire leader's supposed to be showing up some time, I was dead excited about meeting him but I didn't know I'd get to see you again too!"  
Vlad sighed. "Not 'too', Robin. Remember? I'm in charge of the vampires now. More or less."

His old friend's face fell. "You don't seem too happy."  
"Happy? Robin, look at what's happened! And it's my fault. I stood down the slayers, I mind wiped you in the first place... if I hadn't you might have had a chance."  
"Do you even_ remember_ me, Vlad? I always wanted to be a vampire. This is fantastic!"  
That brought a reluctant smile to Vlad's face. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"  
"Only for the better."

There was a long pause, and then Robin spoke again, finally lowering his hand from his neck.  
"So what happens now?"  
Vlad stared for a moment at the angry red fang marks on his friend's throat, the blood that still glistened there, running down to pool at his collarbone.  
"You come back to stay with us for a while. Me, Dad, Ingrid, a couple of others. At least until you've adjusted."  
Robin nodded, then noticed what Vlad was looking at. "Oh, yeah, sorry, they didn't really care about cleaning me up once they realised I wasn't dead. Surprised it's not getting to me really, I suppose that's 'cos it's mine. Must be annoying you, though, the smell or whatever."  
Vlad stopped breathing, focusing on retracting his fangs. He hadn't been so tempted by blood in a long time.  
"It's fine, Robin. Now... can you tell me what happened?" As his friend answered the question, he hoped he didn't notice him licking his lips.

_He'd been walking home from the cinema – it was Classic Horror week and today they'd shown a marathon: _Nosferatu, Dracula _(the Bela Lugosi one), _Dracula_ (the Christopher Lee one), and _Dracula vs Frankenstein_, back to back. It had been a great afternoon, and now, walking home late at night, Robin tried to imagine that every shadow could be a vampire. It wasn't as easy to pretend as it had been when he was younger, but he could try._

_Then one of the shadows had moved, the moonlight had reflected off of long, pointed fangs, and Robin had crumpled to the ground._

_When he woke up, he was in a cell of some sort. It wasn't a terrible place, just a little room with a locked door and a bed to lie on. He sat up, feeling a twinge in his neck, and put his hand to it. It came away wet and dripping, and then Robin remembered what had happened. More than that, he remembered everything; he'd known vampires before, but somehow he'd forgotten. Vlad – Vlad had made him forget, somehow._

_He'd sat there for about an hour, mulling over all this newly rediscovered knowledge, and wondering why he wasn't dead. He had been attacked by a vampire, that was clear. And if he wasn't dead, but he'd been bitten – he glanced at his hand, covered in his own blood – and he _had_ been bitten, then he must be a vampire himself. Just like Vlad._

_He'd thought he must be imagining it when he heard his old friend's voice, saying something about staying for the day. Of course he couldn't be here. Still, he heard his own voice croak out a query, and then Vlad was there, looking so sad and guilty, but he couldn't contain his own excitement. Now things could go back to the way they were._

"I see. Well, it doesn't sound like you were targeted. Just unlucky." Vlad gave him a sympathetic look and Robin wondered why he didn't get it.  
"Lucky, more like. When can we leave?"  
"Sundown. Dad's gonna be _thrilled_." They grinned at each other for a moment, and then went to talk to the slayers about arrangements for the day. Robin had to be officially released, which took about ten minutes, and then there was an awkward conversation with Jonno, who seemed to feel just as guilty as Vlad about the whole thing. It was a relief, in the end, when Vlad suggested that they get some sleep – they would be getting a lift back to Garside from a slayer team at nightfall.


	3. Chapter 3

**A short chapter - forgive me. The last is longer. I hope you enjoy this little snippet anyway!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

Unfortunately, Slayer HQ only had one spare room, and Vlad wouldn't hear of Robin going back to the cells, so they bunked in together. Vlad insisted on taking the floor, accustomed as he was to coffins, and Robin reluctantly settled on the bed. They both stared at the ceiling in silence for a while, but sleep didn't seem forthcoming.  
"Vlad?"  
"Yeah."  
"Why'd you wipe my memory?"  
"I thought it would keep us all safe. You, your family, my family... even the Van Helsings. Looks like I was wrong."  
"So it wasn't because I kissed you?"  
There was a long pause.  
"_I _kissed _you._ And no, it wasn't because of that."  
They were silent for a moment, and then Vlad spoke again.  
"Did you remember that? When the memory wipe was still there, I mean."  
Robin nodded, forgetting that he couldn't be seen from Vlad's place on the floor.  
"Yeah, I did. Did you? Before the slayers reminded you I existed, that is."  
It was so quiet that Robin thought Vlad must have fallen asleep. Then he spoke, in a smaller voice than Robin had ever heard from him.  
"Couldn't forget about you."

Robin thought his heart had stopped – but then he remembered that of course it had, and that had nothing to do with what Vlad had just said.  
"It can't be comfy down there. C'mon, we used to share a bed all the time when we were younger. Why's it different now?"  
"You know why it's different, Robin."  
He took a moment to ponder that.  
"Yeah. But come up here anyway."  
There was a shuffling sound as Vlad tried in vain to make the floor more comfortable.  
"Fine. Doesn't mean anything."  
The bed dipped under the weight of another body, and ten minutes later they were both fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Final chapter of this fic, although there will be an epilogue I'd completely forgotten about. So... yes. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Dracula; if I did, I'd be writing scripts rather than stories.**

The slayers dropped them at the gates of the school and Vlad led the way inside.  
"Welcome to Garside Grange. Renfield!" The manservant appeared, looking rather cleaner than Robin remembered. "You remember Robin, don't you? He'll need a room, and a coffin." Renfield didn't question it, hurrying off into the depths of the school.

The Count and Ingrid were surprised to see him, Robin could tell. Especially with the new scar on his neck. Vlad introduced him to their lodger, Erin, a former slayer who seemed to have some kind of history with Vlad. Later, a tall, curly-haired man stalked through on his way to the blood cellar, barely pausing for long enough to be polite when Vlad introduced him as Bertrand, the tutor. Something about him just didn't sit right with Robin; he was glad that the man went on his way fast.

He and Vlad got into a heated discussion about the new films due to come out over the rest of the summer and everyone else gradually drifted out of the room. Erin hung in for a long while, interjecting occasionally to talk about the films she was looking forward to, but eventually even she left the boys to catch up, slipping easily back into the lines of their old friendship, almost exactly where they'd left off.

_"But they're bringing out a new Batman film, and it's not going to have Robin in it! I've been waiting my whole life for this!" Vlad laughed.  
"Fine, we'll go and see it. But it won't be the same without you in spandex."  
"I hate being named after a sidekick." Robin's sulky pout was ridiculously adorable, and before he could think about it, Vlad was leaning towards him. He had just decided that he would have to pull back now before Robin worked out what was going on when the other boy closed the gap between them._

_It wasn't perfect; they were both nervous and their noses got in the way, and it was over before either of them could really get their heads around what was going on. But it was very _them_, and if Robin didn't freak out at him in the next few minutes, Vlad thought he'd quite like to do it again._

_Robin didn't freak out, and Vlad assured him that he wasn't freaking out either, but it seemed like something they could continue next time they saw each other, just in case one of them decided they didn't like it after all once they'd had some time to think._

_The next time Vlad and Robin saw each other, there was no time for kissing and they were all in grave danger._

"They're rounding off that Batman series, you know, the one we were going to go and see. We could go, maybe?"  
"Yeah, it could be fun. But we'll have to wait 'til you've got through the usual half-fang problems, you know... blood and things."  
"I'm going to have to drink that now, aren't I?" For someone who'd always been so keen on vampirism, Robin didn't seem too enthusiastic at the prospect.  
"There's a soy substitute. That's actually what we're trying to move towards, with the truce and everything..." Vlad trailed off, looking guilty. It took Robin about five seconds to work out what that was about; the Chosen One was upset that his truce hadn't saved his friend from being bitten. For the leader of the vampire world, he looked pathetically vulnerable in that moment and Robin leant forward without thinking about it. Vlad's lips met his halfway and the spark that had always existed between them leapt back into life.

It wasn't perfect; Robin was trying to hold his fangs back and Vlad was shaking slightly, and all too soon the half-fang forgot he didn't need to breathe anymore and pulled back. But it was very _them_, and Vlad had no intention of waiting for Robin to freak out. He wrapped his arm carefully around his friend's injured neck and leant right back in for more.


	5. Epilogue

**And an epilogue, because I couldn't have the whole story be ****_just_**** about Vlad and Robin. Well, I could, but I didn't.**

Robin and Vlad had fallen asleep at some point, side by side on the sofa, fingers interlaced. The half-fang was slumped over, head resting on Vlad's shoulder, the marks of fangs on his neck exposed and still clearly visible.

Bertrand stood in the doorway, just looking. They seemed so comfortable together, so secure in the knowledge that the other one was there. That they were loved. As he watched, Vlad shifted slightly in his sleep, his other hand moving to rest on Robin's knee.

The Chosen One had never been his; he'd always known that, known that he would never be that to him. Somehow, he'd expected that to make the inevitable hurt less. It didn't. But Vlad seemed truly content, for the first time since Bertrand had known him, and he didn't have it in him to resent that.

Ingrid appeared at his shoulder.  
"Sickening, isn't it?" But her voice was low, her tone wistful, and they both knew that they were jealous of the boys slumbering in front of the fire. He forced himself to look away from Vlad, meeting her eyes.

"Do you miss him?" She was taken aback; Bertrand didn't usually address her so bluntly. The softness in his voice caught her off guard and she found herself answering honestly.  
"Sometimes. I miss... _that_." She nodded in the direction of the sleeping teens. "Was there ever anyone for you?"  
He shook his head. "Not like them. I didn't have time... there were people, but never..."  
She nodded; they weren't good at expressing their feelings, neither of them were. She understood.

"Come on. Let's leave them to it." And they both reluctantly turned away from the bittersweet sight.


End file.
